Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Access To Behavioral Health Services: Supply, Coverage, And Health Insurance Literacy, Heather Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines policy and individual barriers to behavioral health (BH) service utilization. The full reach of federal policies like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) may be limited by state policies and the supply of the workforce available to deliver these services. Further, individual factors, such as low health insurance literacy, may influence patterns of behavioral healthcare utilization. Despite efforts to increase access to behavioral health services, treatment rates remain low, suggesting that barriers remain. To explore the effectiveness of these policies and examine remaining barriers, this dissertation explores three main research …